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Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Then my first grade friends grabbed a few non-fiction books that interested them and began reading. After they had a chance to read for 15-20 minutes, I handed them a stack of post-its. I told them to write any questions they were still wondering about as they were reading in their non-fiction books. Take a look at few friends diving right into their non-fiction fun.

Continue to stay posted to our blog to see what we do with our questions.

On Tuesday we reviewed what we learned yesterday by taking a look at a fiction book (Alexander, Who Used To Be Rich Last Sunday) and discussing what text features it had. (characters, setting, problem, first, next, then, finally and how the problem was solved) We also talked about how we could predict what was going to happen in Alexander. Then I held up the Spider book and we talked about how we could predict that is was about spiders, but could not predict what was going to happen like we could in Alexander. Then my first grade friends discovered some other text features (Index, Glossary and Maps) in the non-fiction book. We talked about why a book would have those and how each of those could help the reader. We ended our FACE lesson today by making a Venn Diagram of our discoveries between fiction and non-fiction. If your child is reading a non-fiction book at home, help them use the text features to learn more about what they are reading. Example: Find a word from the glossary in the book, see how it is used and help them understand what the word means.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

On Sunday, March 11, 2012 I had the opportunity to go and see one of my favorite bands-Lady Antebellum. This is also the reason why I was not home Sunday night updating the blog. I took home a one minute souvenir from the concert that I will post for you to enjoy. (Yes, our seats were WAY up there, but still had a blast.)

Thanks for following this blog and for the parents of room 4, thanks again for all of your support each and every day!

On Wednesday we read Grandfather Twilight by Barbara Berger. This book is about a Grandfather Twilight that walks through the forest to welcome the night with his gift to the growing darkness. We used this book to reinforce what we have been learning about over the last two weeks-Asking Meaningful Questions. Check out the questions they came up with before, during and after we read the book. Then take a peek at their answers and the strategy they used to find the answer (using the text, inferring or other resources). I am very proud of all their hard work. As we continue to build on this strategy, my next step is to have them show me in a good-fit book of their own this process.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

On Friday we read the book The Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland. This books is about a young girlforced to flee her beloved Vietnam to escape a devastating civil war, a woman takes only her children and a single lotus seed to remember the emperor by. Years later, when her grandson takes the seed, she thinks all is lost until the beautiful lotus blossom reminds her of home and gives her grandchildren something to remember her by. This story will help readers appreciate those who must start anew without forgetting their past.As we were reading the kids practiced everything they have been learning about making meaningful questions. I am very proud of them. The questions they had before we read the book were insightful. They were in tune with the new vocabulary that was being put in front of them. As we were in the middle of book the kids had lots of questions about Vietnam, war and the lotus plant. When we finished the book we went back and answered our questions. There were a few we were unable to answer using the text/book or inferring. So we got out the IPad and looked up Vietnam on the map and talked about where it is in comparison to the United States. We also looked up images of a lotus seed/plant. Then we looked up who was the emperor and viewed a picture of him. Take a look at the picture below to see a map of our thinking that day.

Story Map Code:B-the questions we had before we read, D-the questions we had during the book, A-the questions we had after we finished reading the book T-we answered the question using the text/book, I-we answered the question by using our inference skills, OS-we answered the question using an outside resource

On day 2 we answered the questions that we had while reading All I See. As we were answering them we labeled them with a T if we were able to answer the question using the text/book. We used an I if we inferred the answer. Then lastly, we put an OS if we used outside resources to answer the question. Take a look at our answers.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Over the last two days we have been talking about how asking questions before, during and after we read a story allows us to understand the text better. We read the story All I See by Cynthia Rylant. Before I read the story, I recorded my first grade friend's questions about this book. What were they thinking about after looking at the title and seeing a few pictures? We labeled those questions with aB (before I read the book). As we were reading, I would also record what questions were coming to their minds. We talked about how the questions we have should help us understand the story. The questions my first grade friends came up with I labeled a D for questions during the story. Then, when the story was over I asked them to think about they were still wondering. I recorded these questions and labeled them with a A for after the story.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Celebrating Dr. Seuss fun--Together we celebrated Dr.Seuss' birthday by dedicating our literacy time to him this morning. I read The Cat in the Hat and One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish to my first grade friends. After we were done reading, discussing, and practicing our questioning skills we enjoyed a snack of blue jello (the water) and swedish fish (our red and blue fish).

Take a look below.....

Thanks to Pinterest for the cute idea.

We also used our Daily Five-Read to Someone time to enjoy other books by Dr. Seuss. The kids had a blast reading his engaging books. Take another look...

On Wednesday and Thursday this week I had the opportunity to attend a district wide training for those of us receiving ipads. This was two packed days of hands on learning with an Apple expert. This inservice exceeded my expectations. I feel very blessed to work for a district that values professional development. I cannot wait for my first graders to get their ipads at the beginning of April. During my training I was introduced to the Sock Puppets App. This is a free app that allows kids to put on their own puppet shows. If you have a device that allows you to download this app, feel free to give it a try. I had my two kids (6 years and 8 years old) try it out. I first had them write a play with two or more characters and then practice reading their lines, and finally they made their play come to life with the Sock Puppets App. This will be one of the first apps I use with my first grade friends in April. Take a peek...